The Devil's In The Details (Short Stories Down The Slippery Slope)

Humans are a riot. One minute, you're just as busy as a little beaver at work ... the next you're bludgeoning your boss to death in the copy room. Or maybe a body falls out of the sky and into the middle of an empty field (THUMP!) and all you can think about is keeping the poor fellow's personal effects -- after all, who's it gonna’ hurt, right? Sure, this little "detail" might affect you adversely later on, but you can handle that! After all, everyone has baggage. Of course, not everyone hauls theirs around in an actual suitcase, blood dripping, bright as house paint ... It's probably best to avoid this type altogether -- even though we all know that the very worst human baggage is carried on the inside, burning like a hot coal just under the heart, roasting the edges of your soul ... can't you just smell that burn? Mistakes, regrets, behaviors you can't outrun and can't leave behind ... not even at the risk of Hell itself. The Devil really is in the details ... what's that? You don't believe in the Devil? Well how convenient! I’ll keep that in mind. And when you take your final breath? I'll be right here waiting. Then we'll see what you believe -- and what you don't.